


Arachnophobia

by PhoenixFeather



Series: Phobias [1]
Category: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-27
Updated: 2019-05-27
Packaged: 2020-03-20 03:12:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,815
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18984049
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PhoenixFeather/pseuds/PhoenixFeather
Summary: Of all things he could be afraid of, it just had to be the creature that gave him his powers. No one knew, and he would prefer to keep it that way. If any of his enemies found out that those eight legged creatures caused Noir to freak out, he would be done for. He didn’t even want to think about what the rest of the spiders would think if they found out. They already thought he was a bit of an oddity, but if they knew he feared spiders? He didn’t even want to think of that.





	Arachnophobia

Friday nights were always Noir’s favorite. They were the beginning of the weekends, where Noir got a small break from the depressing work of the week, though that usually meant more crime fighting as Spider-Man. They were also when he got to meet up with the other spider people. After Peni had figured out how to safely travel from one dimension to another, they had made it a point to meet up once a week. Some weeks they would watch a movie, while others would be spent playing games that Noir had never heard of, though it never mattered since he was still able to see his spider family. This time, they were having a game night. Noir was sat on Aunt May’s couch, after having been eliminated from the game.

Everything was going great, until that demon spawn showed up. The others didn’t seem to notice the creature walking menacingly along the wall, just waiting for the perfect moment to strike, but Noir noticed right away. How could he not? The creature was the definition of evil, and anything evil was bound to be noticed. When he first saw the black dot moving across the wall, he froze. The worst part was that he just so happened to be spending time with the other spiders.

He watched the creature move from one spot on the wall to another, every small movement was noted. In the back of his mind, Noir wished for his unease to go unnoticed by the others. Currently, Peni, Miles, and Gwen were caught up in some board game. They were arguing over a play that Miles had made. Peter B. was sitting on the couch behind Miles, silently watching the debacle and grinning at the ridiculous reasonings the girls were coming up with to try and get the play to be reversed. Porker was giving his two cents from the kitchen, where he was helping Aunt May prepare food.

“Noir? Are you alright over there buddy?” Peter B. asked.

His question caused the rest of the room to fall silent as the other spiders now found their attention on the black and white detective. Noir didn’t move as he gave his answer.

“Yeah, I’m alright.”

Noir’s tone told another story. The way he spoke made the others uneasy. There was definitely something wrong and Noir wasn’t telling them. This caused them to all go on alert, trying to find out what was making the monochrome man act in such an unusual way. None of them were able to see what was causing Noir to act this way. Their spider senses weren’t helping them either.

“Noir, are you sure you’re okay?” Peni asked, startling Noir enough for him to take his eyes off of the wall demon.

Noir looked at the other spiders, a bit surprised to find them all looking at him with concern written all over their faces. He swallowed thickly and gave a jerky nod, thankful that his mask was covering his face. If he didn’t have it on the others would know immediately that that was a lie. Unfortunately, they didn’t seem all that convinced. It also didn’t help that once Noir realized he had taken his eyes off the creature he quickly snapped his head back towards the wall, only to realize the spider was nowhere to be seen.

Noir’s heart beat fast as he scanned the room for the creature. He needed to find the spider before it had the chance to attack. He stood abruptly, spinning in place trying to locate that little black dot. This couldn’t be happening. Noir’s breathing quickened as the panic of losing the spider set in. This quick change in behavior startled the other spider people. If Noir’s behavior didn’t put them on edge before, it most certainly did now.

“Noir, man, you gotta tell us what’s wrong, or else we won’t be able to help,” Miles said, watching the man intently.

Noir stopped his movements and turned towards the others.

“I can’t find it,” he stated, voice panicked and pitched up slightly. “I can’t find it, but I _know_ it’s still here.”

“What is _it_?” Gwen asked, worried.

Noir didn’t answer. His attention shifted from Gwen to something behind her. His entire body language changed, shifting from panic to attack. He let out a low growl.

“ _Found it.”_

Never before had any of them seen Noir so intense looking. Even with his mask on, they were easily able to see that Noir was ready to kill. No one dared to move as the detective slowly made his way towards them. Each of them watched intently as the monochrome man slowly reached down to his holster once he had made his way passed them. All of them watched as Noir slowly raised the gun and prepared to shoot a spot on the wall. Before the detective had a chance to pull the trigger, the spot fell from the wall onto the floor, causing the man to panic. He stumbled back, releasing his gun and falling onto his back. Almost immediately after falling, he kicked his legs against the floor, attempting to get further away from the creature. When that failed, he flipped onto his stomach and attempted to stand and run at the same time. He stumbled, but eventually he was able to make his way to the other side of the room, where he turned around to face the direction of the spider.

The others only stood and watched. None of them knew how to react. They had just witnessed a hard-boiled detective who punched Nazis in his free time panic over a bug that had fallen off the wall. Peter B. was the first to react, looking first at Noir, then directing his attention to the creature which stood still on the floor where it had been since it fell. He walked towards it slowly, unsure of what it was at first. Noir watched intently, a plea for him to stop stuck in the back of his throat. B crouched down in front of the spider and gave it a good look before getting a confused look on his face.

“Uh, Noir? This is just a spider,” he said blankly.

The others looked over at B, thinking that he was only saying that to make them feel a little less anxious. Peter carefully picked up the spider off the ground and brought it over to the younger spiders, showing them that he wasn’t joking about the spider. Noir just watched in horror as B held the spider in his hand. Once Miles, Gwen, and Peni had looked at the spider long enough, the attention turned back to Noir. The man in question swallowed thickly. He didn’t want to be in this situation, but nothing could change what had happened. Before Noir could give some sort of answer, Peter B. moved closer to Noir, causing him to back up once again. Peter’s face scrunched a bit in confusion.

“Are-are you _afraid_ of the spider?” he asked incredulously.

“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Noir replied, his voice a bit shaky.

This prompted each of the others to make a face.

“Okay, so if you aren’t afraid of the spider, what were you freaking out about?” Peter prompted, his tone accusative.

“Well-you see-I was just,” Noir was at a loss for words.

What was he supposed to say in this situation. The others knew he would never pull his gun out unless it was for a good reason, so what reason could he give that would justify him using his weapon. Nothing he thought of would be enough to convince the others.

“Noir, it’s okay,” Peni began. “You can tell us if you’re afraid of spiders.”

“I’m not afraid of spi-”

Noir didn’t get to finish as Peter B. started walking towards him with the spider still in his hand. Noir scrambled backwards until he hit the wall behind him. When B continued to walk in his direction, he pushed off of the wall and ran into the kitchen and straight out the back door without so much of a word to the others. He didn’t stop outside either, making his way quickly into the city. Back at the house, the others were trying to register what had just happened. Once they snapped out of their shock both Gwen and Peni gave Peter B. dirty looks.

“You just had to provoke him with the spider, didn’t you?” Peni scolded the elder spider.

“I didn’t think he would react like that! I was just trying to get him to admit that he was afraid, not have him run away,” Peter fired back, hating that a child was scolding his behavior.

“Well, it doesn’t matter now. Come on, let’s go find him before something bad happens,” Gwen interrupts, not wanting a fight to break out.

Peter and Peni both give each other looks as all of them make their way out of the house to try and find the detective. Miles, Gwen, and Peni grouped up while B and Porker opted to search individually. Those in Miles’ group headed north, while B and Porker went east and south respectively.

The group heading north spoke little as they searched. What they had seen in May’s house unsettled them. They knew Noir to be a fearless detective, and seeing him so uneasy and skittish was jarring. None of them had seen the man act that way. Even when he was fighting he never acted that way. Miles was the first to speak.

“Do you guys think that Noir is okay? I’ve never seen him that upset. Well, I’ve never really seen him show any emotion, but you know what I mean.”

“He’s probably fine,” was the short answer Gwen gave.

“Are you sure? I mean, Noir’s not really one to act this way. What if he’s really upset? What if he decides that he doesn’t like us anymore and won’t visit anymore? I don’t want him to leave. He’s like family to me and I can’t lose anyone else. I can’t.”

Miles had stopped moving at this point, instead choosing to sit on the roof one of the buildings they had been searching. His breathing was becoming more and more shallow the more he thought about Noir running away. He was still struggling to accept his uncle’s death, and here he was, worrying about losing another person he held dear. Peni made her way over to Miles and placed her hand on his back in a comforting way.

“Don’t worry Miles. Noir wouldn’t just leave us like that. He loves us.”

“But-”

“No, Miles, listen. Noir loves us, and he wouldn’t leave us no matter what. Yeah, we probably should have gone about the whole spider situation a little better, but he wouldn’t hate us over something like that,” Peni gave the boy a small smile. “Everything will be alright, so you don’t have to worry. Come on, let’s go find our friend.”

Peni offered Miles her hand, which the boy gladly took. Together, they began their search again. Off in the distance, the detective watched the three attempt to find him. He kept to the shadows, hoping that they wouldn’t notice his gaze. He didn’t want to talk to them right now. He couldn’t, not after what had happened. Noir needed to be alone for a bit. He wasn’t sure he would be able to handle talking to the others right now, so he kept his distance.

Once the kids had left the rooftop, Noir relaxed a bit. Letting out a sigh, the man slide down against one of the walls he had been hiding behind. Things were not going as planned, and all Noir wanted to do now was go home and be alone, but he knew that the others would know if he left the dimension. Peni had made sure the goobers indicated which dimension they were in, which in any other case would be fine, but right now it was making things harder on the monochrome detective. If he could safely get home without anyone knowing, he wouldn’t have to explain himself to the others. He knew that they were accepting of things, but there was a voice in the back of his head that kept nagging at him and telling him that the other spiders would cast him aside because he couldn’t stand to be around the creature that gave him the powers he now possessed. Everything was becoming way too complicated.

Noir leaned his head back, looking towards the sky in hopes of finding an answer to his dilemma. While he was searching the sky, he let out a yawn. He hadn’t slept for such a long time, and the panic of earlier didn’t help his exhaustion. Though he was tired, Noir knew he wouldn’t be falling asleep anytime soon. The threat of being found by the others prevented him from drifting off, so he sat in silence. He hadn’t been there too long when his spider sense started to go off. He jumped up and got into a fighting stance, ready to take on whatever was causing his sense to go off. He didn’t get a chance to fight, however, as something slammed into the man, knocking him off his feet altogether. Noir couldn’t see the thing that was currently holding onto him, but he knew exactly what, or rather, who it was.

“Noir! You really had me worried, man. I thought that we wouldn’t be able to find you and that you would hate us forever. I’m really sorry about what happened. We didn’t try and make you really upset,” Miles said, speaking quickly.

The boy had moved off of Noir and had flickered back into sight. The detective turned his head to look at Miles, but remained laying on the ground. Noir didn’t know if he should try and run again or if he should just concede. Unfortunately, Noir didn’t have much of a choice as they were soon joined by the rest of the spiders. Noir’s eyes quickly glanced at each of them, unsure of where to look before he eventually decided to just look at the sky. He didn’t speak during any of this, not knowing what to even say to them.

“Are you going to say anything, or are you just going to lay there all night?” Porker asked.

“What’s there to say?”

“Maybe you could explain why you just up and ran away?”

Noir looked at the pig and considered his options. He could tell the truth and risk the ridicule, or he could try and lie and risk digging himself into an even deeper hole. He took a deep breath before sitting up and giving his explanation. He opened his mouth to talk, then closed it, unsure of how to start. The others watched him patiently. Noir scratched the back of his head before finally speaking.

“I...don’t like spiders,” he said very bluntly.

“You...don’t like spiders? That’s it? That’s the reason you ran away and hid?”

Noir ducked down, disliking how his friend was questioning his choices. It wasn’t like he was thinking rationally at the time. Luckily for him, Gwen stepped in to help.

“Well, B was trying to attack him with one.”

“I wasn’t trying to _attack_ him with a spider! I was trying to-”

“It doesn’t matter what you were trying to do, you still had a spider in your hands and you tried to get close to Noir with it.”

The two went back and forth, arguing over the reasoning for Peter to bring the spider closer to Noir. Said man sat in silence, a bit shocked that the others weren’t as upset over his fear as he thought they would be. His silence caught Peni’s attention.

“Is something bothering you Noir?” she asked, quickly refocusing the attention of the others back to Noir.

“I didn’t think you guys would react this way. Honestly, I thought you wouldn’t really want me around anymore.”

“What? Why would you think that?”

The detective looked away sheepishly.

“Well, I guess I was thinking you guys would find it weird that someone with spider powers can’t stand to be in the same room as one of ‘em.”

“It is a little odd, but that doesn’t mean we won’t like you anymore. Noir, you’re like family, we wouldn’t just force you away because of a fear,” Peni explained.

“Yeah man, you don’t have to worry about that,” Miles added.

This made the monochrome man smile. He couldn’t have asked for better people in his life.

“Thanks fellas.”

With that, the six of them made their way back to Aunt May’s house to finish their game night. Noir swung silently next to the others, a smile plastered on his face, which lasted for the rest of the night.

**Author's Note:**

> I've had this stupid idea in my head for so long, like "what would happen if Peter Parker was afraid of spiders?" and somehow my brain came up with this. I don't know how I managed to get it to make some sort of sense, but here we are. I hope you enjoyed!


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